#anyways. I hope my point is clear??? this is literally just my own personal opinion--

[hollowsart]

listen. I'm not saying Superman should be as alien as Martian Manhunter, I'm just saying that Superman should have some physical differences that set him apart from being just a regular person. Little things that would make him seem almost uncanny if compared to a regular human. Some things just seem off about his appearance. (mostly stuff hidden by his clothes that you wouldn't necessarily see)

just a little extra something, a little extra oomph to his whole "I'm not actually human.. I'm an alien.. and yet.. I appear so much like a human that no one notices anything different.. no one knows.. that I'm an impostor. a fake. I don't belong.. this isn't really my home." thing he has going on lowkey. (DC doesn't touch on that much and if they do, they don't linger on it for very long, preferring to focus on other stuff with him that ISN'T that deep at all)

I just think it would add some extra depth and interest to his character instead of making him look like just your average everyday muscular man but with super human abilities and powers that go beyond just super human agility/speed/strength y'know???

..I just wanna see a Superman who relates more to the humans who have physical differences from a ""normal"" human. He relates more to those people for his own physical differences. His shyness with his appearance, hiding behind a shirt and some shorts instead of proper swimwear when he's at the beach with others cuz he's afraid people will see something he has that no one else does? THAT would be interesting!! Plus, I'm sure some people could relate to it.

He could come into his own of accepting himself and his differences and it would hit different, but I think it would also hit harder if it was done this way.

I have weird thoughts and opinions about certain characters tbh but it's usually cuz I'm disappointed or uninterested in a character (usually always a superhero) cuz they end up feeling very.. idk.. dry? boring? bland? idk.. I just think there could be more done to add "flavor" to some characters.

at least to me, specifically.

HECK. HIM HAVING SOME MINOR ALIEN QUALITIES THAT DIFFERENTIATE HIM FROM THE HUMANS COULD ALSO GO ON TO CREATE AN INTERESTING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIM AND J'ONN!! Superman and J'onn could bond and be friends through their shared "I'm not human, but I try to fit in. There is privilege that one experiences, and an isolation the other feels. We aren't human, but we want to fit in and learn."

Superman being J'onn biggest supporter and possibly even one of his greatest of friends who understands enough the feelings he has being surrounded by a people he looks like, but is still so different from.

The others of the league can almost all relate to the experience of feeling like a "fish out of water", and quite literally in Aquaman's case. An experience they can bond through and come together over, on top of their desire to do good and help people. thankless or not. afraid or not.

[tyran-the-tyranical]

I keep seeing people bringing up Raphael’s line about Mol and are coming out with (in my opinion) a little bit of extreme takes.

“What a lovely specimen she is a blushing Apple begging to be plucked”

Firstly, this is just gross and predatory behaviour regarding Mol, just not in the way people are claiming.

He calls her a blushing apple and what he means by this is that she stands out - he sees potential in her and he’s planning on plucking that and exploiting it to his own whims. Of course blushing seems to have its own connotations but in relation to the apple analogy it makes sense. The sentence in itself is very disgusting and gross, but not because it gives off “pedo” vibes, it’s because he’s being predatory but not in any sexual way, there’s nothing sexual about it, literally nothing.

It’s gross because that’s what devils do, they prey on the weak, sick, elderly and children, the most vulnerable in a society because they’re easy prey (in their minds, etc) he’s also may be planning on grooming her presumably into a future position that would serve him later on (like what Korilla does now), yet might I add there’s nothing sexual about it.

People also bring up Gortash as an example but theres also nothing to add with that either. Gortash was abused by Nubaldin (who is an employee of Raphael’s), who says it himself that he would beat Gortash until he was sobbing, there is no mention of Raphael partaking in this let alone any other sorts of abuse (tho he’s not innocent here either, negligent in the very least)

Also, when looking at Gortash’s design it’s clear he holds some sort of admiration for Raphael, he copies his outfit somewhat with the devil’s accessories and such, which would be strange if any abuse by Raphael happened.

Raphael is a devil and if we even look at his father, who in canon, takes good aligned children/babies and eats them so perhaps the leap to something just as sinister isn’t too crazy to come to. Yet, at the same time there is no evidence of this whatsoever other than vibes which is a weak argument in the first place.

His line about Mol is purposely made to be uncomfortable and weird, Karlach even comments on it being such.

“please let me smack this creep”

The line is supposed to show how predatory and deplorable he is, but where I think people are getting confused is that they think him being predatory automatically means he is a pedo, which just isn’t the case. No where else in the game is it stated he has an affinity for specifically children and especially not in that way.

Karlach I think even says more about it after the conversation on how she sees mol going down the same route she did, as in someone taking advantage of their naïveté but not sexually, just that they’re going to use them to their own ends and screw them over in the long run, I think if Karlach thought he was being sexual about it she would’ve been a bit more pissed or comment about it at the very least (more than just calling him a creep lol)

Like I know I might be crazy for this comparison but this feels like when ppl were saying William Afton is a pedo, on the basis of him being (literally) predatory around kids and vibes - you can be predatory and not a pedo, the two aren’t synonymous.

I also think it’s kinda disingenuous to push away criticism by saying you’re only defending Raphael bc ur attracted to him etc, I can like his character and still think he’s a shitty disgusting person, as well as having critical thoughts on that matter, especially since I love my girl hope (justice for hope fr) and I will most likely always kill Raphael in my playthroughs too since he’s such a lil freak anyway.

I really think it’s just a total lack of media literacy, just because these characters are preying on kids weaknesses/vulnerabilities (luring them into selling their souls or grooming them to work for you in the future) does not equate to them being pedophiles. Is it gross and deplorable behaviour? YES, that was the point, but does that mean they’re pedophiles? NO.

The line is gross, it’s supposed to be, and I understand if someone’s first thought might be is he a yknow, but to stick with that and to boldly claim he’s something that there isn’t any evidence for is wild to me. Call him a predator, a groomer, murderer, a literal devil, all things he literally is lol.

Look maybe I’m crazy, maybe I’m being wild, I’m not trying to defend him, he’s disgusting and literally evil lol, yet I still think it’s a misjudgement of his character, since there’s other evil characters in game but that doesn’t mean you can just add every evil thing a person can be into them, like minthara, even Gortash, orin or ketheric or whatever, they have their limits, (tho orin is probably the one with the fewest limitations lol) but if you’re going to call anyone a pedo have it be Mizora, least she grooms Wyll and follows through with disgusting touching (everytime she’s licking him in the promotion, EW, tho that’s not in game so debatable)

I get that with such a clearly and obviously disgusting line that that might be the conclusion people will automatically come to but at the same time I just ask that you do some more thinking on the matter, like sure he’s just a lil pixel dude but at the same time it’s a bit worrying to see how quick people will confidently jump and claim he’s a pedophile.

Anyway, media literacy is dead and we’ve killed it.

[tomato-soup-whore]

obviously the entire concept of the x men universe is based on being a barely even veiled metaphor for discrimination. it can easily be compared to the civil rights movement, with xavier and magneto corresponding to mlk and malcom x and all that, and the clear plot points about segregation and slavery and general racism. but theres also many comparisons that people have made to some mutants being an allegory of homophobia.

one of my favorite plotlines in both the cartoons and the movies is the personal conflict some mutants face when offered the "cure" for their powers. i always thought it was super interesting to see the mutants who had always fought for equality and acceptance to be drawn to the concept of not having to fight for that anymore. like rogue, who was one of the most powerful x men, especially in the comics and the '92 cartoon. she was crazy powerful in so many ways, but was the one of the only ones drawn to the cure because of the side affects of her powers that took away a huge life experience for her.

anyway what im trying to say is that i think the difference of opinions between different mutants on how they should interact with the "normal" members of society, and how those opinions correspond almost directly with the discriminatory consequences of their mutations, is a really good analogy for the intersectionality between racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

If we look at characters whose mistreatment can be compared to racism, we have people like mystique and nightcrawler. they both have physical differences that clearly set them apart from the majority and subject them to judgement. raven especially has her whole arc in the movies about whether or not to live life unashamed in her natural form, or continue using her own energy to make herself more palatable for others. Comparing this to people of color consciously or subconsciously whitewashing themselves to fit in makes a lot of sense.

but then we have the homophobia element. characters who's powers aren't visible on the surface, but are still an integral part of who they are. asking them to hide their powers is like for others convenience is discriminatory, despite the good intentions that many of their human counterparts may have (think of bobby's mom asking if he's "tried not being a mutant" in x2) and rogue having a physical and romantic disconnect from all of her peers because of her powers.

and theennnnn we have the transphobia analogies, which i connect to the characters that have physically visible powers but are still able to hide them from society. this would be people like angel (he literally BINDS his wings like c'mon) and beast before the serum shit turned him blue and he just had weird feet. with those people, embracing their powers would have really cool benefits for them, like flying and shit, but its easier for them to hide it because of society's discrimination.

anyways this is a really long winded way of saying that thats part of the reason why the political dynamics of the x men is still so relevant and important and interesting. relationships like erik and charles are so much deeper from this pov, bc you have the group of people who see the hope and humanity in people and want to have everyone treated as equals (the x men) and you have the mutants who retreat into their own community and don't want the acceptance or the cooperation of regular society because if they're always going to feel "other" why not build a new society to erase that feeling (the brotherhood).

if i could write essays on this shit for school i would be acing all the humanities, trust.

[snapscube]

hihihi ok. so i’m in my last of us fixation mode and i’m being extra silly about it but i NEED to know what’s ur current opinion on the last of us hbo?? also i logged onto tumblr and saw a lot of rly good points defending joel’s final choice and i remember during the last of us pt1 playthrough u had differing opinions so i wonder if u think the show’s differences affect that at all? btw i LOVE ur stuff and cannot wait until u do last of us pt 2 wehehehehe!!! anyway besides all that i just want u to know that u are one of the things in my life that makes it easier to get up in the morning

I still feel exactly the same about the final events as I always have! The show didn't change it for me, and actually being able to remove myself from being in control of the situation in the game and actually just watch the events play out in show format solidified that further. The connection I have to Joel as a player when I play the game really helps me understand his perspective more and stomach the goal a bit more easily, but without that immediate intimacy it puts into perspective for me how kinda monstrous the whole thing is from every angle. Obviously I don't ever lose that sympathy for him, and I never stop understanding why, because the whole point of the conflict is that no one is in the right. Ultimately I think the damning thing for every single person involved is that they removed Ellie's agency from the equation, and I still stand by that. They all should have talked to her. They should have told her the truth. All she wants is for her immunity to matter, and I believe that they may have been surprised at the lengths she's willing to go in order to make a difference, whether it's ultimately the right call or not.

I don't know what arguments you've seen exactly in defense of Joel's choice, but personally I don't really agree with one I see a lot and I'd expect will pop up again now that the show is over, which is the whole "well who's to say a vaccine would have worked anyway?????" angle. I think, while reasonable from a meta standpoint, completely ignores the intended framing of the story in order to more conveniently justify a protagonist that the story through its entire runtime is trying to tell you is a little bit of a piece of shit. It's pretty clear and safe to assume that the ultimate intent here is that... yes, the vaccine WOULD have worked. Maybe not in the sweeping way they hoped, but Ellie's sacrifice absolutely would have done something. The whole moral dilemma of the situation really does not make any sense unless you give them that as fact imo.

So then, assuming that is true, you have to wrestle with the idea that Joel is willing to take down the entirety of humanity for Ellie. And not really for Ellie, because none of this is what Ellie wanted. The game AND the show QUITE LITERALLY SPELL OUT for us that Ellie really really really does not want to go back to Jackson without finishing what they started, regardless of the cost. Joel's reasons for saving Ellie, while understandable, are ultimately selfish and rooted in his own trauma and having just seen the light at the end of his grieving over Sarah. Again, incredibly sympathetic, but it's selfish. I know we like to joke as much, but Ellie IS NOT his daughter. They share a similar bond after everything they go through, but by the end of the game you can already feel Ellie pulling away from that notion because she's starting to realize Joel doesn't have the same commitment to the idea of her immunity being meaningful as she does, they're only a few miles away and he's already asking her to give up and go back to Jackson with him.

Then, of course, I think what ultimately damns Joel in my eyes on a poetic/storytelling level is his decision to lie to Ellie after it's all over. That's the nail in the coffin for me. It would be one thing if he said "they were going to kill you on that operating table without even telling you what was going on and I couldn't let them do that", but instead he lies to her to make sure she's still able to see him as the father he desperately wants to be again. It doesn't change anything. He tells her her worst fear has come to pass: her immunity, this unexplainable thing that has taken so many of her loved ones from her, is completely useless. Not only that, but now even more people are dead. Including Marlene, who's known her since birth. The only thing his lie changes is the fact that he's responsible for it all.

Anyway, part of what I love most about The Last of Us Part II is how it follows up on these threads and you may be pleased to know that I actually just started streaming the game last night after the HBO finale premiered cause I was so pumped up I couldn't wait any longer haha. So you'll be seeing VODs for that soon :)

[thelostgirl21]

I'm late to the party like you wouldn't believe, but I've got to say something, because I'm so upset!

Okay, unpopular opinion, I actually loved Jaskier's Season 3 hair!

Was it always perfectly styled? No. There were a few scenes where I personally thought it could have used a bit more volume, or a bit more volume in some places while a bit less in others; but, most or the time, I was more than fine with it, and thought it suited Jaskier well!

At times, I literally adored it!

Ex:

To me, those are moments where I thought Jaskier looked his best in the series! Loved the hair!

Then again, personally, I tend to prefer Joey's looks with his forehead cleared and his hair longer.

Like, this is I think one of the most gorgeous non-feral hairstyles I've ever seen on him:

(X)

This is an absolutely gorgeous man, and I personally prefer his hair styled like this than short.

(Note: I'm not saying he's not beautiful with short hair, too, simply stating personal preferences. Certain aesthetic choices are based on comfort, too, and he can 100% afford to sacrifice the "long haired look" for something that makes him feel more comfortable. He can rock plenty of different looks!)

Then, of course, there's the feral look that is just in its own category...

So why am I upset?

I've just found out that he didn't wear a wig in Season 3!

That Jaskier's Season 3 hair were simply Joey's own hair that he had decided to grow out.

And look, I'm fine with everyone having preferences!

That's not my issue. Having your own tastes and not being a fan of Joey's Season 3 hairstyle is not the issue at all!

There were posts simply mentioning that they hated that it looked so flat, when we could have been graced with something a bit more like this:

And I do get preferences when it comes to styling.

It's just that I recall how - since people assumed it was "an ugly wig" that had been forced on his head by the wig department, rather than what they considered "a bad hairstyle" - the comments on "Jaskier's hair" were at times downright nasty!

And I just gotta get out of my system that those of you that have been literally making fun of his "sudden 4-inches receeding hairline" (first I'll have you know I find receeding hairline pretty hot!), when it's kinda remained the same for 3 seasons (it's called BANGS people. Joey tends to wear those with his shorter haircuts! Look it up!), for example, really suck!

His hairline has always gone pretty far up on each side, even in some of his earlier work... Ex: Gopher in "Mount Pleasant" (2016):

Like he's got very thick hair that form a "V" shape at the top (my mom had that, but I didn't inherit it... And we've got tons of hair... Like, a lot! * ) and a pretty large forehead.

*

(That's me at 18, and then at 28 - before I brought them back to a lower back length - but my mom is the same in terms of thickness, she just has that V in the front I lack, and it never receeded any further in her life.)

And there would be no shame in having thin hair, or any form of baldness anyway!

So yeah! I remember sort of heavily ignoring all those "ugly wig" comments because I, too, had assumed it was a wig (turns out Joey's hair seem to be a bit like mine, and grow pretty fast), and at some point you choose your battles.

Did I think a bunch of you were immature assholes for needing to hate on that "ugly wig" so much? Yes. But you find those in any fandom!

Personally, I thought "the wig" was awesome!

But now, I kinda regret not having taken the time to be more supportive of Jaskier's Season's 3 hair given I actually like it...

Because that's just a (very sweet) human being's hair, that was styled in a way that a number of people didn't like.

Again, zero problem for those that thought it was badly styled, and that the look didn't suit Jaskier!

Critiquing what you find a "bad hairstyle" is no cause for shame!

But, for those of you that took it to the next level with all those "ugly wig" comments, you fucking suck, I sure hope you've since found out that you'd been openly ridiculing a fellow human being's real hair, that it makes you feel like complete pieces of shit, and that feeling like complete pieces of shit is going to help you learn from your mistakes, before you start attacking other people's personal physical features in the future!

"Well, I didn't know!"

Here's today's lesson:

When you don't know, please kindly shut up and assume the hair you see is the real thing!

Or critique the wig like you would a real hairstyle, asking yourself "Hmm... Is describing someone's real hair the way I do going to make me sound like a bully?"

Like I said, I'm aware I'm pretty late to the party, but the the kid in me that got heavily bullied in school over her own hair really needed to get it out of her system!

[starbylers]

Monologue anon here! Thank you so much for that whole post, I wasn't expecting something this detailed when I wrote the ask lol. It definitively made me understand the purpose of the monologue more, and I love that interpretation. I can finally have an explanation for why the monologue had to happen, so thank you for that!!

But at the end of the day I guess I'll always be a bit skeptical and wonder if all this could just be bad writing, and we're just reading too much into it. Like the fact that it has lies, I could see the writers think it actually doesn't, like they could be thinking that Mike genuinely fell in love with her in that moment even if he didn't know what it was yet. They've done other retcons, because back in season 1 the full story wasn't complete yet. And the "surprise, it was all Will, that means he's the one Mike actually loves, not El!" argument feels a little cheap and I'm not sure the audience will buy it. But we'll see, I guess they could write it in a way that makes sense. Anyway I really really hope we're right! Fingers crossed!

You’re welcome! And I understand being skeptical but I mean, agree to disagree I guess haha. I don’t think their writing is without flaws by any stretch of the imagination but the evidence for Byler goes past bad writing—it’s at the point where several of their choices would be completely illogical and against their own interests if the purpose was for Mlvn to be endgame.

And about retconning stuff, I suppose it can happen? But the writers account have said that they don’t believe in love at first sight and in season 4 they literally made fun of the trope with Argyle and Eden. In my opinion, they don’t believe in it. I mean they are grown adults, I find it really hard to believe that they are seriously advocating for the idea of love at first sight being a thing that is real and happens. Romance in Stranger Things also always comes from a foundation of friendship.

I also don’t think it’s as easy as ‘surprise it was Will, Mike loves him now’ 😭 I was just trying to put it in simple terms, I only meant Mike finding out makes it clear to the audience that he could only confess after he heard how much Will loves him, and will be a key factor in him beginning to realise that Will is actually the right person for him. I don’t think it’ll be this immediate switch, it’ll happen over the course of the season in conjunction with Mike and Will getting even closer and their dynamic becoming more explicitly romantic. They won’t just spring Byler on us with no build up lol. But yeah fingers crossed, I hope we’re right too :)

[ramblesbiab]

hazbin hotel is so weird to me.

When I was an edgy, newly queer teenager and the pilot came out, it was literally fucking everything to me. I rewatched it on a near daily basis. I thought every joke landed, that the animation was amazing, and I had a weird sense of pride that a YouTuber could produce something as amazing as a 30 minute, high quality animation.

Then a few years passed as I watched Helluva Boss excitedly every time it came out. I thought it was great, for a while. Then over time, I was semi-conscious of a decline in quality, that finally set in around when season 2 came out. I stopped watching at that point because I was so bored of it, I missed what it could've been, what it used to be.

At that point, I started seeing more information about the actual Hazbin Hotel show coming soon. On it's own it would have been strange, the lack of excitement about what was my entire personality at one point. Then I started seeing how a lot of accounts on here who I respect and look up to talk about the show.

The true scope of the issues with the show really set in at that point. How unoriginal and childish the jokes were. How their was barely an audience anywhere for it because it didn't know what it was trying to be. It was clear to me that something I once idolized is a wreck.

Then, one of my closest friends with media opinions I heavily respect starts watching the show and talking about how great it is. It's hard to describe the level of whiplash I felt. It felt like I was missing something, y'know? Like there was an inside joke I didn't understand, how could anyone like the bad show. It's bad.

I... still haven't watched the show. I don't have means to watch it except pirating and I genuinely don't feel like putting in the effort to pirate it. Honestly, the greater point of this post is just like - how bad I am at forming my own opinions, because I feel a constant need to be with the crowd.

I know that's a problem. It shouldn't matter how people I respect feel about the show, because if I enjoy it and it's not genuinely problematic, then there's nothing wrong with that. So maybe I would like the show. Maybe I'm in the small audience which I've repeatedly seen referred to as dumb, overly edgy, etc. And maybe I don't want to admit that because I'm hoping I'm not in the minority.

Anyway, that's the end of this long post. Have a nice day.

[crowtrobotx]

I know this is out of the blue, but thank you so much for being a real one 👍✨️

Like I have nothing against people who see Heisenberg as a gay man, they’re entitled to think that. But I draw the hard line at people who feel the need to bash others just because their views don't align, and then when confronted use the piss poor "it's just a joke" or "it's just an observation" excuses. If you're going to be a bitch at least have the balls to own up to it.

Anyway, loved your work since 2021 and wishing you all the good vibes. 🤗

Oh my goodness, thank you!!! This is such a kind message and I appreciate you so much. ❤️ Good vibes right back at you. I’m glad that my rantings have resonated with folks because sometimes I wonder if *spongebob voice* I’M the maniac. Getting dragged into this stuff really makes me feel like it sometimes, haha.

Yes! To be clear I also truly do not care what your HC’s are! I love that there are people for whom gay Heisy is their thing and I hope they are having fun and keep making their art/fic/etc! Even if I really can’t stand the popular fanon ship I’m so glad it exists for folks who enjoy it and I am not going to spend my time posting about what I don’t like/agree with when they’re not hurting me and I can spend my time on stuff I do like!

And like. I know. I KNOW a lot of these people are teenagers. And I struggle sometimes because “do not fight literal children” is a rule I try to live by lmao but I also really don’t like seeing people target and mock folks for harmless fun. (It’s on sight if a 25+ year old starts putting this shit in the tags tho. I know they’re out there.)

Still, it’s extremely weird because they always defend themselves with “it’s just a joke/it’s not that deep” or “oh my god no one is stopping you from liking x why are you so pressed 🙄 i can’t believe you’re letting my nasty opinions bother you just because i put them right where you can see them with the intent of insulting you.” 💀💀💀 Like what could possibly be the point of doing this if not to, at the very least, actively try to dissuade people you don’t like from engaging with the community? Obviously no one can stop me but if I know that there are dickbags out there who are going to vaguepost and make fun of me when I do, I don’t care how confident and thick skinned you are (and I am very,) it’s still going to sting!

People are not bothered because they’re disconnected from reality and think they’re really married to a pixel man, they’re upset because life is hard enough and you come into your hobby space to have a good time and then find lame ass idiots infesting it. I also think the whole “ohhh my god why are you so upset he’s/she’s not real!!” is a blatant attempt to discredit the hurt parties by once again insinuating that they are “crazy” which once again conveniently ignores multiple realities, chiefly that 1) most people are not upset by a simple opinion that their fave wouldn’t fuck them IRL, they are upset at the blatant meanness of the person making the accusations and 2) even if they are genuinely hurt by the thought because it’s a coping mechanism for them, why does that make it okay for you target them? What gives you the right to harass and mock people who are not bothering you? Do these people think they’re doing these folks a ‘favor’ by forcing them to contend with what they perceive to be some kind of delusion? Shut the hell up. Why do people decide it is their god given right to hold strangers on the internet accountable for psychological “problems” that they’ve completely made up.

Anyway SORRY I have a serious problem shutting the fuck up lol. I have never been good at phrasing my thoughts in a coherent way especially when I’m grumpy. I am very glad my little circle is full of awesome, open minded and levelheaded folks and not gatekeepers/weirdos (derogatory) who have decided that diversity of opinion in fandom is bad actually and that women and femmes specifically are enemy number one.

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

Hihi! So I’ve been a Dark Larry for over 8 years now. I never dove deep into any other subject because simply they own my heart.

I have tried to post about the topic I want to discuss In subreddits, but they keep denying It because I think they don’t want it to scare Larries off, but that’s not my intention at all. I just simply want it to be debunked because it’s been messing with me. I think you’re the best person to go to, considering you’re a demon larrie.

so, what I want to ask about Is Zarry. Most of their interactions seemed pretty platonic, and the matching tattoos seem pretty mundane considering Larry tattoos are „pair” but I do have a few questions I am hoping you can clear my mind of. Firstly, the exact matching black heart tattoos Harry and Zayn share. (I am aware Louis also has one, but it’s slightly different. Zayn and Harry’s are identical)

so why would Harry constantly kiss on stage (there are times It was literally kissed, not just a sneeze or cough) the tattoo he matches with Zayn. I mean, Larries use this as proof all of the time because Louis drew it or something during xfactor days? but why would Zayn have the exact one?

the biggest one for me is their lyric communication?? What…is…this… it literally has my mind boggled. I don’t want to take up your whole page, but here’s some examples.

Please don’t take this as me trying to mess anything up. But nobody else will answer and clear my mind about these…I really don’t want to stop believing. If you want to Dm me instead, please do… thank you

Hey lovely, thank you for your message and thank you for being kind.

Hmmm, that's a tough cookie, because I never had/have any doubt about how in love Harry was/is with Louis and vice versa to even think about Harry having anything more than platonic feelings for Zayn. And to me it sounds like you don't want to "stop believing" in Harry and Louis' bond, as well, even though things "mess with you".

I want to make it a point that it's ultimately always completely up to you what you believe. It's not my place to tell anyone how to feel.

To me, Harry seems like he makes deep bonds with the people he loves, which with the only exception of Louis, means non-romantic love.

I don't doubt that Harry loved Zayn very much and considered him to be family in a way, which could explain why they might have matching heart tattoos. From personal experience I know tattoos can have more than one meaning and mixed meanings with varying weight. Maybe Harry connects that heart tattoo to not just Louis, but also Zayn? Zayn and Louis also had a deep platonic bond. Maybe the answer is somewhere in between. :) With the lyrics, I personally don't think Harry's and Zayn's lyrics are connected, but everyone is free to disagree with me. :)

I base this simply on the thought that it doesn't make sense to me why Harry would write a line like "I'm forever only yours" with someone other than Louis in mind. If he even was the one to write those lines, because he co-wrote Someday with Meghan Trainor and even though there is an unreleased version of Meghan and him singing that song once, it was her song idea first and then also given to Michael Bublé, who released it in 2016.

With A Little Bit Of Your Heart, Harry "co-wrote the track with Johan Carlsson from Carolina Liar, who he worked on a few songs with throughout his career, including One Direction’s Stockholm Syndrome". (x) They wrote that song in 2014, at the latest, then it was given to Ariana Grande, who released it in August 2014. Zayn only left the band in March 2015. Again, I do not think those lines -if Harry wrote those- are about Zayn.

As with Golden, well, while I 100% think Louis is Harry's "sunshine" and "sunflower" :"> , I haven't caught up enough on Harry's last two solo records to form a specific opinion on the song itself. The lyrics I googled (to me) sound like 'being in a relationship can be scary because what if it ends? But that he's doing it anyway, because "Loving you's the antidote"'. So honestly, the song doesn't speak Zayn to me at all. I also googled to see he wrote it with Mitch, Thomas Edward Percy Hull and Tyler Sam Johnson and from personal experience I can only say that simple themes like "golden/light/bright" are used quite often. Whether Zayn's Golden might be about Harry, I have no idea, I haven't listened to any of Zayn's solo albums, yet. I wish you all the best ✌🏼 x

[mewly]

"Her stubbornness and drive rivals Aloy’s which isn’t something she’s really faced with a companion before" ikrie and talanah are laughing somewhere

I don’t even personally ship Seyloy if that’s what you’re mad about 😂

Anyway you’ve missed the point of what I said there entirely. So allow me explain!

Tl;dr: Seyka’s stubbornness and drive is harsh like Aloy’s, Talanah’s isn’t (and Ikrie isn’t a companion so she didn’t have the same impact), they are different, and I thought narratively that Seyka’s would have had a bigger impact than it did.

This is what I said in literally the next line: “Aloy got to see what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that instead of the perpetrator.”

I said at first I thought Seyka’s character was created to act as a mirror of Aloy, (with the similar personality traits, both mission driven, finding a focus and younger sister rescue) so that Aloy could experience firsthand how she has previously acted towards others with her own drive and stubbornness making her leave them behind and letting her know how that felt from an outside perspective. Let’s be honest, Aloy can he harsh at times because of her mission and weight of it and that comes across in her drive, we’ve seen companions like Varl and Erend comment on this before. Seyka was written to be the same way. She’s quite brash and rude at times towards Aloy, whereas no other companion has been to that extent before. She’s not afraid to snap at Aloy.

I believed as the dlc went on that Aloy would have an epiphany moment - since Varl isn’t there to explain these things to her anymore - like “oh damn this is how they all felt”, further pushing Aloy towards letting people in and changing her mentality to be more open in H3, and in turn helping Seyka open up too. It was her whole character arc in HFW so I assumed it would continue into the dlc. BUT, that isn’t what happened sadly. It was romance coded instead.

As the DLC went on, I clicked that Seyka was written to be our first love interest, and not her own character like all the other companions. And I’ll stand by that conclusion. People can all argue until the cows come home that Seyka’s her own character, but this is my opinion and I don’t think she is right now, 90% of her character is Aloy’s recycled, mashed up with everything we’d seen from our previous companions to make her this “all rounder”, and it’s just not as good. Which is why the character mirror theme would’ve made more sense to me narratively. (It’s also why I can’t ship it, I think they’d clash long term. Too similar ya know?Anyway, I’m off topic.)

Aloy is pushed into the supporting role at times with Seyka, which is jarring to us as the players. (That might also account for why I felt like a major third wheel the entire main plot of the dlc lol, I didn’t feel like I was in Aloy’s place anymore, but I digress).

In regards to Talanah and Ikrie, Talanah is a huge positive force from the get go in HZD, her banter is cheerful, and she willingly helps Aloy. There’s no real pushback in HFW after a brief conversation (eg. Talanah agrees to go back when she’s hurt, whereas Aloy tries to push onward until she’s physically forced to stop by her wounds after the Hades proving lab), Talanah’s stubbornness and drive is admirable but it is different from Aloy’s and that’s just fact. Ikrie is a DLC side character (not a companion ergo she won’t have the same impact on the story) that I genuinely don’t remember much of so I can’t comment there, but I know even she didn’t act like Seyka does towards Aloy, (which as I said before, comes across a little rude at times).

I genuinely hope that clears things up for you about what I meant from that line.

I was trying to be positive in my wording in that review, so that anons, such as yourself, didn’t jump down my throat for “not liking Seyka or Seyloy” since discourse was rampant then. But as always people find something to be mad at! 😂

But a word of advice if I may? Clearly you prefer Talanah and Ikrie for Aloy, or as characters in general, which is fine. Ships ahoy! But ships aren’t the be all and end all of fandoms nor should they be, and this game is so much more than ship discourse and I’d hate to see it reduced to such now that romance has been confirmed in whatever extent that may be, it’s a phenomenal game series and I could write about the themes and narrative behind it (or potential themes lol) until my fingers bleed. I didn’t like Seyloy because it didn’t make sense to me narratively, not because “omg a new girl kissed Aloy and my ship is now dead nooo wahhh”. Some people like Seyka and/or Seyloy, some people don’t, and I’m indifferent to it all mostly. And that is ALL okay (as long as you’re not like, one of those homophobes who tanked the reviews of course because of it).

Anyways all the best nonny.

[atopvisenyashill]

Do you think Braime will happen? And how?

I’m fairly confident they will exchange i love you’s, i go back and forth on whether they fuck or not before he dies.

i’m admittedly fuzzy on the details. I think Brienne is going to Do A Scheme to get herself, Pod, and Jaime out of the LSH mess alive and feel hugely guilty over it - to be real clear, she's luring Jaime to LSH, then they're escaping with Pod, but they're not actually having a hand in LSH's end, that's Arya's job. Jaime, meanwhile, will just be happy they’re alive, and will probably think it’s funny Brienne convinced herself that he’d hate her for lying to him when she just saved him from a zombie horror. Likely they split again soon after this because Brienne gets wind of Sansa being in the Vale and goes to get her before someone else does (unsure whether she pulls a full on Dunk and gets to the tourney on time to see something happen and makes off with Sansa that way, or if she meets up with Sansa as Sansa is escaping and saves her, but either way, basically the moment the tourney happens, I expect some crazy shenanigans to go down, and Brienne to swoop in, save Sansa, and make for the Wall for safety from Jon Snow). If you're interested in those theories, please look at my ashford tourney theory tags and the ser shady i mean ser shadrich tags! Now, what is Jamie doing during this time?

fuck if i know bro and that's the honest truth! Because he is the valonqar and he’s gonna do some valonqarizing, obviously, but i don’t think it necessarily means he kills cersei and I know I'm in the minority opinion with that here BUT. None of the other prophecies are that literal and yet everyone assumes he's going to literally strangle her to death because Cersei thinks she's going to be literally strangled to death, and we are somehow taking Cersei at her word here even though she's wrong about literally everything, the same way every single person in this series who tries to guess prophecies are wrong about everything! But the imagery, you say, the dreams of strangling her, the stuff about his golden hand! Yeah, I'm well aware of that, I’m not saying he’s doing anything nice to her, i think he’ll have a hand (badum-ts) in her dying, probably enough to feel guilty over it too (plus whatever is happening with tyrion) but he’s not strangling her to death and I simply do not believe he's dying right after either. What is he doing? no idea. they’re at casterly rock and he uses the last of the conditioner and then he leaves. i have no idea and I think people who are insistent that he HAS to murder-suicide his way out of the story are overconfident af about that ending.

after that. lots of war. they’re twin fires side by side in the darkness. Jaime will knight Brienne after he valonqarizes. If they say i love you, this is where it happens. If they fuck, this is definitely where it happens. They will be at the trident - perhaps stuck there, perhaps sent there on a mission by whichever Starkling is ruling the North. They will fight there, and Jaime will fall, but not before seeing Brienne bravely keep fighting, and having hope that she will live.

And she will. Brienne will live, Brienne will rise high, Brienne will not abandon her oaths, because Brienne is the True Knight, the bastion of goodness and heroism that Jaime needed when he was a young man, and she will continue to give others hope like she has given to him by staying true to the ideals of being a knight if not the minutiae of the vows she's sworn.

Anyways, my point is that I believe Jaime is going to have a Vader-esque "tell Sansa and Arya you were right about me" ending and Brienne will be the Luke in this situation, picking up the saber sword of the man who knighted her. What's that post that's like, Anakin asks Qui-Gon if he's here to free the slaves and Qui-Gon says no, only for Anakin's own son to show up decades later and say no, I am the last Jedi and I am here to free the slaves. That's Brienne and Jaime, except there's kissing involved.

[cosmicjoke]

i am so sorry u had to deal with that anon, i hope you are feeling ok! :’) it sucks how shippers make their own reputation bad by not accepting another perspective/opinion :/ and to go to this extent over a fictional ship is just… something else😭 i’ll never understand how some can’t just enjoy their ship in peace and always have to prove it is canon and fight everyone else who doesn’t think like them, as if you can’t enjoy a ship otherwise?

anon just reminded me why i never took an interest in any levi ship, and i probably never will. i sooo wanted to say that i didn’t understand why anon suddenly started to hate on levi x oc shippers, but it’s obvious bc most oc’s are depicted as women and that is against their ‘canon’ ship and beliefs about levi😭 why care so much, levi can be whatever sexuality you want seeing as nothing was confirmed, so just take a step back, touch some grass and let people enjoy whatever they like :’)

anyways, once again im sorry u had to deal with all of that i can’t even imagine how tiring or frustrating it must be to always be attacked/asked about the same things constantly. i love your levi posts and i feel like you really analyze him very well! happy holidays :’)

Thank you so much, truly.

I've said again and again that I have nothing against any ship or shipping group. People can ship Levi with whoever they want. But these people who harass me over it, then accuse me of "talking" about it all the time, but the only reason I talk about it is because they're the ones asking me about it.

The thing is, is I just want to talk about what's in the actual story. Levi has no love interest in the story, either directly acknowledged or even implied. Everything this person sited as evidence or "proof" of Levi being romantically interested in Erwin, I addressed to the best of my abilities. They didn't want to accept it, and then they accuse me of being a hypocrite, trying to claim that all of my analysis posts are based on the same, speculative, inconclusive and flimsy material they base their beliefs on. As if breaking down text, expression, sequential order of panels, and patterns in the text and past character behavior is the same as taking an off-handed comment from Isayama in an interview from ten years ago or whatever and using it as proof of some super secret hidden romantic interest between Levi and Erwin. You can literally look at every post of mine analyzing AoT and find evidence supporting, pretty damn concretely, my conclusions in the actual text. And I'm hardly alone in that. There's many, many great AoT fans who write brilliant analysis posts about the manga/anime, using only the source material. But these people can never point to a single panel or word bubble or piece of text that supports this notion that Levi was in love with Erwin, or anyone, for that matter. They need to site promotional material to try and back up their claims, and extrapolate meaning from the panels and texts which isn't, in any discernible, concrete way actually supported by the text and panels. They literally need to twist Levi's words and actions in the most absurd, nonsensical, illogical manner in order to make it fit. That isn't how Isayama operates as a writer. Even when there's subtext, there's a clear, undeniable line between it and the action on the page. That's what analysis is based on, after all. There has to be a viable, evident reason for drawing certain conclusions.

Levi holding the serum against his chest, or touching Erwin's hand when he took the serum from him, or him thinking of Erwin when wondering who he could revive, none of that is enough proof in and of itself to support a romantic interest between them. I tried explaining to this person what those things actually indicate within the story. The last two don't mean anything. It's just how the panels were drawn. But the first, if this person had paid any kind of attention to Levi's actual relationship with Erwin, and how Levi regarded Erwin, and the reasons he was so loyal to Erwin, would understand that he thought of Erwin in that moment because he regarded Erwin as the leader that humanity needed, and that humanity's future was dependent on Erwin's survival. It's the entire reason Levi tried to stop Erwin from going to Shinganshina in the first place. I come to all of those conclusions based on the actual text and what we know about the characters leading up to that point.

I explained all of this to this fool in my initial reply to them, and they accused me of "brushing them off", lol.

Anyway, whatever. But thank you so much again for your support. I just can't seem to get away from these people, haha.

[shimmerbeasts]

//Drow is interesting for Bhaal, as he was a mortal human man and seems to still like his old form a lot. Not that he can't, he is a god, but what would be the motivation for it? Does he have a reason to choose this specifically for Jinx? (Comment made by @steel-and-fire)

I hope you do not mind me posting your comment in a separate post as I have a bit to talk about, and that way, I have the advantage of no sudden word limits cutting me off.

First of all, people have to remember, that I am still fairly early in my playthrough, and while I know certain things already about the Dark Urge storyline, I only know bits and pieces. I do not yet have the full picture. However, even if I had the full picture, there may be a chance that I am doing this regardless. I like giving canonical characters and sometimes even the world or their relationships my own flavour. Seriously, look at my worldbuilding for Zaun and you get what I mean.

Anyhow, onto the whole drow and Bhaal stuff. To understand what my idea was here, you have to understand that when I chose to make Jinx's BG3 verse and designed her as my avatar for my playthrough, I tried to draw as much from who she is in Arcane. I did not even try to make Jinx look exactly like Arcane Jinx because that is just impossible.

As you can clearly see here, Jinx's original aesthetic would hardly map completely onto BG3's aesthetic. So, I decided that while I gave clear nods towards Jinx's appearance like her blue hair or her demonic purple and demonic blue eyes, what was more important was capturing the spirit of her character in her design. Ergo more, who is she as a person versus what does she look like.

This is for instance why Jinx is a thiefling instead of a human or elf. From what I heard of the race, they are outcast, but also associated with evil and trickery. And in my opinion, Jinx is an almost tragic spin on a trickster and malevolent character. Other things, I included are nods to the people, she canonically holds dear, wherever I could. Everybody with two working brain cells, who saw Arcane, can tell that Jinx's heterochromatic eyes are a nod towards Silco as is her tattoo, which in my brain is almost like Shimmer leaking out of her eyes. Her horn's red tips are a nod towards Vi.

Anyway, back to your question: How the heck does any of this tie to Bhaal appearing as a drow for Jinx instead of his apparent human shape?

The short answer is: I decided to give Jinx pre-brain damage and tadpole situation a dynamic with Bhaal which is very similar to Silco and her in canon. So I was like "If I go with the whole Silco = Bhaal analogy, why not go all out?" And well, if you look at Silco's appearance, I felt a drow would make the most sense for Bhaal's chosen form.

You see my point, right?

I also thought a lot about how Jinx interprets what "Father of Murder" means or more specifically what murder is. And well, if you look at the definition of the word murder, the topic of intention is very crucial to differentiate it from manslaughter. So, I felt that for Jinx, intention would be a very important element in how she unleashed her dark urge in the past. It is about setting up a kill and the whole chase element of it. Girly ain't a hound, in this case, she is a hunter.

And I was like Okay, what would be easier for a god. Trying to brute force her into a completely different path or you know, taking the path she already is on, and speeding it up. I chose to interpret Bhaal as taking the shape of a drow for Jinx as a nod to Silco, but also because she is very receptive to wanting to make a parental figure proud in her own unique ways. In a way, Bhaal is fitting himself around Jinx's interpretation of who he is. Is he still the quote-on-quote "Father of Murder"? Yes. Did Jinx choose to take that more literally? Also, yes. Does Bhaal choose to play into this because it enables him to control Jinx more easily? Yes.

In my eyes, Bhaal would be scarier if he could accommodate multiple interpretations of the word murder and not just one. And that is exactly what he is doing with Jinx.

[rewatching-sam-and-dean]

Supernatural Seasons 11 and 14

So, I know the later seasons don’t really measure up to the earlier ones, especially Kripke era, but I actually really like Seasons 11 and 14. However, I like them for the brotherness much more than for the plot.

Season 11 is beautiful for how Sam and Dean are finally on the same page and just vibing with each other. Still codependent (especially Dean) but they’ve come to terms with it. All it took was Sam being willing to stop at nothing, not even at releasing a potentially world ending force, to save Dean for them to get there. I love how Dean doesn’t blame Sam for this once because my guy was secretly happy Sam did it and proved his devotion. Psychos 😊 , the both of them.

On the other hand, I don’t really care for how the whole Amara thing was executed, but you can’t have everything, especially in later seasons. I also don’t care about what the angels are doing. Like ever. At least, after Season 8.

Season 14 is also great in terms of Sam and Dean brothering. They are now in the “I’m just chilling with my platonic life parter and I’m good” stage. I also like that this season makes it very clear that Sam and Dean are each others’ number one. Sam is the one who gets through to Dean when Michael has him locked up inside his own head, and Sam is the only person who can talk Dean out of locking literally himself up and giving him hope. Sam is willing to back Dean up even if it means locking Jack away, someone he considers like his kid. Is this all healthy? No. Not really, but I like it anyway. Sam and Dean are determined to be codependent, so let them, I say. Unfortunately, the downsides to this season are … ugh.

The Nick storyline is utter trash and the character outstayed his welcome and then some. I don’t need whole episodes that focus mostly on Jack, and I honestly don’t really buy Dean caring about Jack on the level of him being like his kid, so their bonding scenes are a little meh for me (not a Dean criticism); I don’t hate it but I don’t love it either. And when did Cass become Mr. Feelings? He’s a bloody Angel, people! He has no business coaching Jack on how to … soul. He doesn’t even have one himself. This character is practically unrecognizable from Seasons 4-6 Cass, and not in a good way. He becomes a glorified, nurtured house pet and nanny.

Anyway, I guess my point boils down to that, for me, if Sam and Dean are good or having good bonding time, are peaking as codependent brothers, than I can forgive a season a lot of issues. This is what the skip/fast forward button is for, after all. And Seasons 11 snd 14 give me lots of good brother (and Winchester Family) content, so they still have something to offer in my opinion. It’s just too bad that they have to pad the seasons with clumsy plots or pointless characters.

Seasons 13 snd 15 are a bit of a different matter 😞.

[megatownac]

Supertown Popularity Poll Results

So. The polls are over. All 90 of them. You can still find the list here if you want to see the breakdown of each individual poll, but what you need to know is that each islander was pitted against each other islander in every one of the 90 ways that can happen, so each islander showed up in 18 polls. I decided early on that nobody got a point in the event of a tie. Here are the final scores, in order from highest to lowest:

First place: Ankha, with 11 points Second place: Chief, with 10 points Third and fourth place: Dom and Phoebe, with 9 points Fifth and sixth place: Chrissy and Drago, with 8 points Seventh place: Tybalt, with 6 points Eighth and ninth place: Francine and Henry, with 5 points Tenth place: Cally, with 4 points

Out of curiosity, I decided to see what the scores would be if a tie gave a point to each contestant instead of to neither. These were the results:

First place: Chief, 14 points Second place: Ankha, 13 points Third and fourth place: Phoebe and Drago, 12 points Fifth place: Dom, 11 points Sixth and seventh place: Chrissy and Francine, 10 points Eighth and ninth place: Henry and Tybalt, 8 points Tenth place: Cally, 7 points

So the rankings did shuffle around a little bit. Chief, it seems, was in 4 different polls that tied.

Despite what I said in the initial post on the subject, most polls did not end in ties or have zero votes. There were 15 that did. So 75 polls had a clear winner.

I could play around with the numbers even more if I wanted to. For example, what happens if ties gave half a point to each islander? But I won't. I also won't say what the results would have been if I had voted in the polls that ended in a tie. I was tempted. I really, really wanted to vote in some of these, just to do it. Just to let my own opinion influence things. Given how few votes each poll had, I could have really swayed things, I think. That's why I didn't ever vote. I really wanted to know who people liked the most.

And it's Ankha, of course.

Every so often, someone will find my blog through one of its tags and mass like a couple hundred of my posts that feature a certain character. This year, that happened at least three times that I noticed with Ankha. I wound up having to block one person who kept messaging me over and over about Ankha. I've never blocked anyone before this year. It was upsetting. I'm still upset about it. It kind of tarnishes the fact that she won this whole popularity contest for me.

I should be happier about it. This was a grand experiment that lasted nearly eight months, and I saw it through. And I've said before that Ankha is one of my favorite islanders, and that I had her in my Population: Growing game decades (literally, two decades) ago. So I like Ankha. She's a cute little yellow cat with a funny hat. What's not to like about her?

I'm also glad Chief did as well as he did. Chief is new to me. I only had him in this game on a whim: I liked the fact that his design made me think of certain middle-aged gay men I've known who are doing their best to age gracefully but are, undeniably, aging anyway. That's as much thought as I put into it. I'm sad Cally didn't do well. I had Cally early on in my New Leaf days, and I gave her away to someone who promised I'd be able to visit her again someday and then removed their blog from Tumblr and I never saw Cally again. It was sad. I think about that from time to time.

Something a bit similar happened with Henry: I had him in my New Leaf town, and I gave him away to someone whose blog is no longer active and who didn't post about him. Oh well. I didn't mind that as much. I like Henry alright, but he's never been one of my favorites. I'm fine with how badly he did in the polls.

I don't have any big conclusions here. This went, well, it honestly did go better than I expected for it to in a lot of ways. I kept holding out hope that maybe this blog would finally, after about ten years on this site, pick up a few followers and get me over that 1600-follower mark (I've had 1500-something followers for over six years--every time I gain a few followers, I lose a few), but I'm not willing or able to do what it takes to go viral. These are the kinds of posts I make.

I'm very grateful to the followers I have who stick around, liking and occasionally reblogging my stuff on a regular basis.

@vanilla-owns-chocolate @92explorer @zane275 @averygamin2 @schtroumpfalunettes @anch-vaviel @ozai @thebigjawpokemon @pie-bean

Those are in no particular order. I just went to my blog's activity page and scrolled down through a week or two's worth of notes until I saw all the usual folks I remember.

But, even though we don't talk, I appreciate you for being here for so long. It's easy to say that I don't do this for the notes, and I don't, really, but it's nice, you know? To see that there are folks out there who like what I put out there.

I'm going to be honest with you. I've given this a lot of thought. I think it's time I stepped away from Animal Crossing for a while. Focused on other things.

This isn't goodbye. It's just a hiatus. There are a few days of posts left in the queue, and then this blog will go silent, and I'm going to write some kind of actual message a little while after that sorting out my thoughts after ten years and one month of running this blog, which started on September 8, 2013. That's too long. Too, too long to have written anywhere from 4 to 10 posts a day. My activity page says 22,643 before I post this. Probably more than 22,000 of those were original, written by me, that is, not reblogs.

I'll be around. I have a main blog. @ozai has even liked a couple of my posts there, so I'm pretty sure they know about it. It's mentioned at the top of this one, even on mobile. So it's not a secret. It's right there. I write about other things there than Animal Crossing. Lately, it's been mostly about the novel I've spent the last three and a half years working on. I might actually have it done in another two years or so! Won't that be exciting? Then I can shut up about it and start writing about the next one.

I also wrote a few thousand words about Frog, from Chrono Trigger, once. It's not exactly surprising to me that my main blog has never even made it above 70 followers, is my point.

That's enough of this. I'm getting dangerously close to depressing, and I don't want to do that.

Here and now, this experiment, these 90 polls, was a triumph. I stuck with it. Ankha won. Chief came in second. Those are good things. It's good. I'm happy with that. It's the culmination of ten years of work. And it's time for a break.

Have a great day. Please continue doing your best, and I promise that I will, too.

[silvanoir]

Trigun '98 rewatch

I finished rewatching all of the '98 Trigun anime. On DVD this time, because I long ago got rid of the VHS tapes when I got rid of my VCR (but kept the covers), and replaced them with the collector's edition DVD tins. Not the same watching experience, as when I watched and rewatched it over and over on old square tvs on top of bureaus, in the late 90s/early 2000s, y'know?

If you're new to Trigun, I'd say watch the '98 anime first THEN read the manga, the anime is a bit more toned down and has less in it, and the dub has a few spots of awkward translation. The manga has far more details, a better translation, and is more intense.... some real graphic violence at points. Humanity as a whole feels a bit more likeable in the old anime, though, and it feels more hopeful at the end, I'll say that. Plus you'd be less disappointed by the changes from one to another. I have no opinion on the new anime (2023) because I haven't watched it.

spoiler time:

Still want someone to call Knives out on his BS. Not debate him on the nature of humanity/the universe like he wants, but on how he personally f'ed things up for himself and others. Vash is never going to agree with you! ever! You saw over a century of scarring on him and he still hasn't given up on humans, you sent killers after him and killed people he cares about (well he cares about everyone) and it doesn't matter, you can't PUNISH someone into agree with you! And even if you did manage to punish someone into "agreeing" they wouldn't really be agreeing in their heart, just saying whatever you want to hear to get you to stop hurting them and those they care about.

IF you really wanted someone by your side to bitch about how much you hate humanity together, YOU HAD A GUY! You don't have to turn your brother into that guy, you had a guy! Legato would've been over the moon to be officially recognized as a substitute little brother, you could've sat up on some high tower snarking and snarling and snacking, human-haters-only club. Real family not working out for you--- try FOUND family. But no. He was literally dying for your approval (literally literally literally). Now what've you got? nuthin' Vash will only stick by you because again, he doesn't hate anyone and you're brothers, and as DAMAGE CONTROL, but he is never, never, never going to agree with you.

And you wanted to make your own little Eden? Well almost all your actions have made the world more hellish. So you fail in that too. Manga Knives was at least trying to liberate the plants albeit in a messed up selfish way that proved his downfall.... but what are you doing other than making everyone more afraid and angry and full of pain, HMMMMMM? You made entire towns disappear, OK.... and then what? AND THEN WHAT? You want the planet to be just you and Vash? You don't even get along!

I'm not mad at the writing choices or characterization, to be clear, he works just fine as a villain and I don't want any changes, I just want someone to yell at him while he's still incapacitated AFTER the last episode and therefore has no choice but to listen.

The other thing I want to say, without making this TOO long is the anime line "The ticket to the future is open" what a klunky way to translate. The Future Is Wide Open or The Future Is A Blank Ticket would've been far better.

Still one of my favorite animes ever though, that despite it imperfections I somehow feel better after watching it everytime. Something something the world is f'ed up and left us half-crazed and beaten down, let's all keep going and appreciate the blue sky anyway.